A Nico di Angelo story
by CelesteDay
Summary: Nico di Angelo has been the boy always in the shadow. He's invisible no matter what. He loosed hope. He's slowly dying. Can anyone save him? It's too late.
1. Chapter 1

It's too late to save me. I'll soon be gone from this world. No one cares for me. Being dead or fading from existence would be the greatest present ever.


	2. Chapter 2

I am Nico di Angelo son of Hades, Ghost King. I wish someone out there cared for me or noticed me. I would be so happy if someone said my name. I know that day will never come, because I'm all alone. I'm just an invisible boy in the shadows following everyone. Feel free to call me a nobody because that's who I truly am. I wish someone would just appreciate me, love me for me, or even hug me or be my friend. We all know that will never happen because I am a freak a monster. I stopped believing in myself. I am just a mere shell of a man. I faced more that any demigod has seen. When people say they know pain, that's a lie. I know how pain truly feels like. Because I faced through pain my entire life. Being Alone is the true pain. You have no one. No one wants you, needs you, loves you, cares about you, appreciates you, hugs you, become your friend. That's how pain is. You have no one to live for. It's so much pain that you can't live with. You bear the pain but it's too much. Slowly a piece of your soul breaks apart and tears it self day by day. Then one day you're dead. But that's fine because you're finally free, you have nothing to worry about. That's my hope. I want to be free. I didn't kill myself or cut myself because I learned to live alone, I learned to live with all the pain. I learned to deal with all the teasing. I learned how to live with it. I learned how to get on with life. I learned how to ignore it all. Because I am strong. I don't fear anything. I don't fear death, I don't fear blood, I don't fear monsters or feared of getting hurt, because I've faced it all. I learned to live with it all. I am just the shadow in a picture. I am a mere shadow. Except I'm more alone than my father because he has Persephone who loves him but hates me. I don't belong with the living or the dead.


	3. Chapter 3

Nico went to the pavillion and sat on his table. No one else sat there. No one would talk to him because they're afraid of him. He's used to it. He doesn't deserve to feel the pain but he himself believes he does deserves the pain. The only one that he talks to is Hazel but she'e rarely around. The Seven tried to talk to him but it will never work. They betrayed his trust. When Gaia was capturing him and Percy, the seven had a choice to save one of them. They all saved Percy. You want to know who saved him from all the pain in Tartarus it was actually his dear uncle Poseidon who saved him. He was shocked. Why would his uncle save him? He thanked his uncle and hugged his uncle. He asked his uncle why. Poseidon said it's because I saved Percy and I kept his promise and rescued him from Tartarus. Also because I am the bravest demigod besides his son because I survived Tartarus all alone, not a single god/goddess/demigod has ever done that. So Nico thanked his uncle. Back to the present. The seven tried apologizing to him but it never worked. He thought that he could trust them but they betrayed his trust. It's a real honor to get his trust. Even though Hades tried to kill them, Nico wouldn't let him do that. They might betray him but they don't deserve the pain because he does. He should've known that they would betray his trust because no one likes a son of Hades. He's not wanted. He's a creep to everyone. He shakes himself out of thought. He goes to the forest. He practices fighting with his swords and his powers. He calls the dead. He calls the ghosts. He manipulates the shadows. He summons the minotaur. He kills it viciously. Then he takes his sword and stabs it suckings the monsters essence into his sword. He turns around to discover that he has a crowd surrounding him. They all look at him in fear even the Ares cabin with the shadow travels to his cabin. He lies in bed. He locks the door and goes to sleep. Little did he know that there was a surprise coming for him tomorrow. He went to sleep with a grin.


	4. Chapter 4

Nico had a bad nightmare and woke up sweating.

Nico wakes up and writes in his journal.

**Dear Journal, **

**Why? That's the big question. Why would you all hate me when I did nothing at all? But you know what? You wanna know what I did wrong. I was born that's what. My father wished I was never born. It's all my fault. I freaking hate my life. I just wish I could end all of this. I can't because my father is just stopping me. Why is he stopping me if he freaking doesn't care about me! He only wants Bianca alive and says that she is so much better than me. Honestly, I could just trade my soul for hers, and she could be alive while I am dead. I would rather be dead than dwell in misery and pain. Every time I try to run away, the camp tries to get me back. Why would they do that if they freaking don't care about me. Like If they hate me then they should just leave me at the hands of a monster. Besides, No one wants me or cares for me. No one even wants to do anything to me. As if I am just a shadow or I am invisible. I hate life. Life is unfair for me. I wish I could start all of this over again. That's all for now. **

** Nico di Angelo **

** The Son of Hades **

** The Ghost King **

** The King of Shadow**

** Just call me a nobody **


	5. Chapter 5

Nico woke up and went to the bathroom. He was happy for unknown reasons. Let him that way, might be the only time you see him smiling and having fun. Nico brushed his teeth and took a shower. He changed into a short sleeved white shirt. Black jeans. Black Air Jordans. He putted on top of the shirt, a black and white unzipped hoodie. He putted on his black sleek watch on his wrist. He looked at himself at the mirror, He looked AMAZINGLY HOT AND Actually make that SUPER ULTRA HOT. He messed up his hair. He had a twinkle in his eyes. He went out of his cabin. He was getting awed glances.

" Hey Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Leo, Frank, and Thalia? Whats up?" Nico said.

Leo replies" Whats up? Whats up with you? You are not wearing all black. You are wearing a white shirt. You're smiling. You have a mischievous glint in your eye. What has happened to you? You changed from a lonely boy to a mischievous boy who is smiling!"

Thalia agrees" I hate to say this but I agree with Leo. Besides you didn't talk to us before and now you're talking to us."

Percy" Yeah Death Breath, whats going on?"

"Oh nothing just birds chirping, sun shining" Nico replies.

The rest of the day went on normal.

*Time skip*

It was the camp fire. Travis, Nico, and Conner setted up pranks for the cabins, but the campers don't know that. Then Hades appeared from the shadow. Nico looked at his father curiously. Hades gathered a large powerful creepy black sphere in his hands. The Olympians appeared and tried to fight off Hades but they all loosed to the son of Kronos. Zeus bellowed" How can this happen? I am the most powerful being? You are not powerful Hades."

Hades cruelly replied back to his little brother" I think you forgot something little brother. I am more powerful than you Zeusie. You are the youngest child of Kronos. I am the eldest child of Kronos, I am more powerful than all of you. I have the power of the dead, the shadows, fear, nightmares, and I am not only the King of the Underworld, but I am also the king of the dead. You dear brother only have the power of the sky, lightning, thunder and weather."

Zeus and the other Olympians looked scared with the rest of the campers, and the Hunters, with the Seven. All except Nico, who realized what was going to happen. All of a sudden Hades shot the sphere at the campers and the Olympians. Nico jumped in front of them with his sword drawn out. He took the blast with his sword observing the rest. Nico transformed into a white cloak, white shirt, white jeans, white boots, white sword in his hands. He had a look of sympathy. Then Zeus and the others with the campers and hunters and the seven bellowed at Hades throwing insults, teases, and hurtful words. Hades looked shocked at the words.

_I wish you were never here. _

_I wish you faded._

_Terrible_

_Get out_

_Freak_

_Monster_

_Retard_

_Ugly_

_I wish you weren't my brother _

_Loser_

_You will never win_

_No one wants you here_

_you're all alone_

_I hate you brother_

When Hades heard all of them, the words sliced into his heart till there was one peace left yearning for hope, comfort, for the love of family, appreciation. The only one that showed that to him was his mother Rhea but she's not here. Hades collapsed to the floor. He curled into a fetal position and started crying. For the first time in forever, he let his guard down and let all the pain, misery, loneliness, abandonment, all his emotions out. He turned into a kid the same ages as his son. He looked like Nico but much more than that. Everyone stopped. They looked shocked since they're seeing Hades, the Lord of the Dead, King of the Underworld cry. Nico putted away his sword. He went to his father. He took off the cape and hanged the cape around his father. He knelt down. He hugged his father. Nico told his father it was all okay. Hades said" No it's not okay. My family hates me. Everyone hates me. They think I am a monster, a freak. They don't know that all I want is just to be accepted by family and everyone else. No one accepted me for who I am except for my mother Rhea. I'm all alone. Nothing will be fine."

Nico stood up and looked at the crowd with anger in his eyes. " Why would you say that to my father? Would you want to hear everyone else saying that about you. No you wouldn't because it hurts too much. I never say this at all but this is the only exception for my father. My father may think that he isn't loved. But that is not true. I love my father, and his mother Rhea loves him. Hades is the best father anyone can ever ask for. Kronos ate his children but did my father do that? No. He let me visited him. When everyone else hates me and insults me, my father lets me in the underworld. You may tease me, insult me, hate me, hit me and hurt me, but you may not hurt, tease, hate, hit my father. I deserve to be hurt and to be in pain but my father doesn't"

Hades stood up and transformed into god form and hugged his son with pride. Behind them dust was rising and forming someone. Everyone turned around. The dust formed into a young titaness. The titaness was Rhea, mother of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Rhea smiled sadly. She went pass Poseidon and Zeus. Nico understood what was going to happen. He got away from Hades. Rhea went to Hades and hugged him. Hades was stunned and hugged back his mother. Everyone else apologized their behavior to Hades. Hades was finally happy. Zeus and Poseidon and Hades hugged each other and counted down from 10.

Nico and Conner and Travis and Hermes knew what was going to happen next. Nico hid them all in the shadow.

The countdown begin.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Blast Off!

All of the pranks exploded and everyone except for the Big Three, Rhea, the Hermes cabin and the hidden ones got effected by the prank. The Ares cabin with Ares were magicked into a pink frilly prom dress, with pink eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner, foundation, red blush, hot pink lips, and 10 in high heels with fake nails. The Aphrodite Cabin and Aphrodite were transformed into bald woman with pimpled faces, dry lips, homeless clothes, broken nails, no make up and converse. The Demeter Cabin and Demeter got transformed into boys that were girls, and girls that were boys. The Apollo cabin got turned into a group of girls that were prettier than the Aphrodite cabin at the time. The Hunters and Artemis turned into girls that had makeup on, crop tops, mini skirts, 15 in high heels, long hair, caked face of makeup, with piercings. Their belly button was showing along with their chest that grew bigger and bigger. The Seven got turned into their domain.

Percy-Dolphin

Annabeth-Owl

Piper-Dove

Jason-Eagle

Hazel-Horse

Frank-Stallion

Leo-Ferret

Dionysus and his children got turned into wine grapes. It was hilarious. The big three were ROFLMFAO along with the hidden ones. It was so hilarious that the ones that were pranked even laughed. Three hours later the prank wore off and they were still laughing. But they soon stopped and went back to Olympus for the Olympians, and the demigods went back to their cabins for a deep sleep. Nico went back to is cabin changed into a short sleeved black shirt with black pajama pants on. He turned off the Lantern and went to his bed. The second his head touched the pillow, he went in a deep sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone woke up to find camp damaged. Tables were broken. Trees were all over the place. In the middle of it all was a single note. Chiron picked it up.

_Dear Camp and Chiron, _

_It's me Nico. I'm going away to start a new life. When I tried to live here, you all kept ignoring me and didn't want me here. So I'm leaving. Tell my father I said goodbye. Don't look for me because none of you even care. Tell Percy that I used to have a crush on him but now I don't. I have nothing to fear. I've seen worse than you all have ever seen. I will welcome death. I have faced war, blood, hatred, pain, abandonment, loneliness. I have no family but Hades and Hazel but none of them care about me. If you want to know my pain then hold the paper and " I wish to see Nico's pain" three times. Then bow down your head and you will feel my pain. All I ask is just respect the ghosts because I am royalty. I am the Prince of the Dead and the Ghost king. I am the son of Hades. _

_See ya later, Nico_


	7. Chapter 7

Hazel ran to Nico's room and found his bed neat with another letter on it. She took it and ran back to the pavillion. She read it.

_Dear Camp, Olympians, Father, Seven, Hunters of Artemis, _

_It's me, the son of Hades, the Ghost King, Nico. If you're reading this I already left camp. Don't bother to look for me. You wouldn't anyways because none of you want me here. I am a nobody. I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere but Tartarus beacuse I am a monster. By the way, Tartarus isn't that bad since I went there 28 times. That's not the point. I understand that no one loves me, no one cares about me, I am not important, no one needs me. I won't have a friend or a family. Besides Father hates me and Father doesn't care about me at all. I have a few special good byes. By the way, tell that I'll miss her. _

_To Percy, _

_I understand that you hate me now but I just want to thank you for being my cousin and for being my friend no matter what others say. I want to let you know that I used to have a crush on you but not anymore. I'm happy for you and Annie. Don't let Annabeth kill me. Bye. Good Luck. _

_To Annie, _

_Don't kill me well I would let you kill me since I want to die but that would just tell my dad that I'm in the underworld, but I don't want to be found. I'm happy for you and Perce. Make sure he's still a seaweed brain. You're a nice friend. Good Luck. _

_To Leo,_

_You might be annoying but you're still my friend. Your jokes were hilarious. Thank you for still being there for me. You are still my friend. Thanks again. Promise me something and get your girl right away. Good Luck. _

_To Piper, _

_We might not know each other that well, but I consider you are my friend. Make sure Jason is doing all right. Still you're cool. Good Luck. _

_To Jason, _

_Hi Jase. Thanks for keeping my secret even though hearing you say that made me pained inside of me. But before that happened, you were the one friend I could trust and didn't judge me for who I am. Thanks for being my friend. Good Luck. _

_To Frank, _

_I don't know you that well but you're a really cool guy. I approve of you dating my sister. Just protect her. I'll be in time for your wedding. By the way, I want to be the flower boy. Thanks. Good Luck. _

_To Hazel, _

_Hi Hazel. You are probably crying. What you said hurt but it doesn't matter because you're my sister. I don't care if you hurt me, but just know one thing I will always forgive you because you're my baby sister. I love you Hazel. Have a nice life with Frank. Good Luck. _

_To Thalia, _

_Hi Thals. So I left because I'm not needed here anymore. Don't argue it's useless. Pinecone face, make sure that Percy is still a stupid selfless idiot. I hope you have a great time with the hunters. Have a nice life. Good Luck. _

_To Hades, _

_Hi Dad, I'm guessing you're angry that I left but this was my own decision. You weren't proud of me yet I still was your son. You're the best dad ever. Even though Persephone hates me, I'll miss her. Tell Bianca that I miss her. Don't let your siblings get you down. You're the best. I love you dad because even though I annoyed you alot, it didn't matter because you still cared. Sorry about annoying you. Have a nice life arguing with Zeus and Poseidon and Demeter. Good Luck. _

_Bye Guys _

_Nico di Angelo _

_PS If you must know I have a pile of candies under my bed for Leo. _

_PPS I want to be the flower boy in Hazel's wedding. _

_Bye _

Everyone was in tears especially the Seven. Hades wasn't crying but he had a grin on his face. Thalia was crying too. It was a sad day for them all but Hades.

Nico was wandering around in the woods when a portal appeared in thin air. Someone came out. It was...


	8. Chapter 8

It was Void, father of Chaos and Order.

" Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, will you be the commander of my army?"

" Sure"

Void took Nico to his palace. Nico ended up in his room. Void left. Nico was wandering around the room when a bright flash appeared and Nico disappeared.

Mean while, Hades left the demi-gods. Only Hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, and Leo and Thalia were crying. When a bright flash appeared and took them away.

The Gods of Olympus were arguing like a bunch of babies.

" WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO STOP CHEATING ON ME? ''

'' I AM NOT YOUR BABY SIS!''

'' WHO CARES ABOUT CEREAL?"

" THAT WAS IN THE PAST ATHENA, WHO CARES?"

A flash appeared and 9 demi-gods appeared. The gods stopped arguing. All the demi-gods tried to frightne the gods. Annabeth's glare didn't work. Neither did Thalia's or Percy's. Everyone else failed but the small boy in black. The small boy in black was Nico di Angelo. He gave his deathly killer maniacal glare at the gods of Olympus along with Hades and they all cowered in fear even Hades.A box of books fell on top of Nico. He groaned under the pain. There was a note on the box.

" May I read the note.?"

" Yes." Athena replied.

Dear Olympians, Hades, Hestia, Demi-Gods,

We have sent these demi-gods to the past to read with you Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Once you are finished, you will read the Heros of Olympus. After that you will read a book of a young mans life. Do not kill these demi-gods for they save you all in the future and by killing them, you have doomed yourself to a horrible fate.

The Fates

Nico opened the package and took out the first book, The Lightning Thief. 


	9. Chapter 9

"I'll read", Nico volunteered.

**1| I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER**

" How do you vaporize your teacher?" Leo asked.

" This is Percy when he knew nothing, besides he still is a Kelp Brain." Thalia replied. Percy was going to protest when Nico cut him off and began to read.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

" None of us did." the demigods muttered.

The gods looked worried.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. **

**Believe what-ever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

" That's actually good advice Prissy" Clarisse said.

" Umm, thanks?"

" What ever."

**Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

" Ain't that the truth," the demigods said.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being **

**able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

" Don't we all." the demigods replied in a bitter tone.

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading **

**immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they **

**sense it too, and they'll come for you. **

Nico closed the book. At the questioning looks he received, he replied " What, he said to stop reading."

One smack from Thalia told him to read.

**Don't say I didn't warn you. My name is Percy Jackson.**

" No, your name is Kelp Head." Thals said.

" No his name is Aqua Boy." Nico countered.

They argued. The gods looked amused while the demigods were laughing hysterically until Annabeth told them to stop arguing.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? **

" YES!" the demigods shouted.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

" He even agrees!" the Stolls and Leo and Apollo and Hermes and Nico shouted. Sadly, Percy pouted.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. **

" That sound awesome." Annabeth and Athena said.

**I know-it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were. **

" HEY." Guess who said that.

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy **

**beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but **

**he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman **

**armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. **

" As if that would happen." Thalia snorted.

**Boy, was I wrong. See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea. **

Everyone even the gods were laughing hysterically. Hermes and Apollo were saying " That kid is pure gold."

When they all calmed down, Nico continued.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting **

**my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich. **

The veteran demi-gods growled.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

" Nice to know you care Perce." Grover grumbled.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew **

**I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened **

**me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining **

**happened on this trip. **

" I'm going to kill her." Nico and Thals said.

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled. **

" HA, you think like me."

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. **

" Awe man, why did you stop the action." Ares whined.

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

" Longer"

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started **  
><strong>telling us how it was a grave marker, a steel, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on <strong>  
><strong>the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody <strong>  
><strong>around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, <strong>  
><strong>would give me the evil eye. <strong>**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even ****though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had ****come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

" Is she who I think it is?" Nico asked. Percy nodded.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. **

" Nico's the devil spawn." Thalia said.

" Ye- HEYY!" Nico whined.

**She would point her ****crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school ****detention for a month. ****One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I ****didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

" GROVER" Thalia, Annabeth, Hazel, Piper and Katie shouted.

Grover blushed.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**  
><strong>Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and <strong>  
><strong>said, "Will you shut up?"<strong>**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

" Duh." Clarisse said.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.****"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**  
><strong>My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." <strong>**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture ****represents?" ****I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating ****his kids, right?"**

" Why?" Hera, Demeter, and the Big Three said.

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ...""Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

" GOD?" Zeus yelled.

" Idiot."

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.****"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, ****right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, ****he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"****"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.****"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." **

" They didn't live through it." Hera and Demeter said.

**Some snickers from the group. **

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to **  
><strong>say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"<strong>**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this ****matter in real life?"****"Busted," Grover muttered.**  
><strong>"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.<strong>

" Is that even possible?" Aphrodite asked disgusted.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir.""I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. **

" Nico is a doofus." Thalia smirked.  
>" HEY!" Nico whined.<p>

** Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything."You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me."About the Titans?""About real life. And how your studies apply to it.""Oh.""What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman per-son who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the steel, like he'd been at this girl's told me to go outside and eat my class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth , a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere."Detention?" Grover asked."Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean I'm not a genius."Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

" Really Grover? Really?" Thalia and Annabeth remarked.

** I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. **

" Works every time." Hera said.

The gods looked at the demigods to see them yelling at them.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a **  
><strong>paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe <strong>  
><strong>table. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. <strong>

" EEWWW" Aphrodite and Piper and Katie shouted.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if she somebody had spray painted her face with liquid Cheetos. **

" Is that even possible?" Demeter and Katie asked.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of you****r ****temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.** ** I ****don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, ****screaming, "Percy pushed me!" **

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**  
><strong>Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"<strong>  
><strong>"-the water-"<strong>  
><strong>"-like it grabbed her-" <strong>

" POSEIDON YOU BROKE THE OATH. " Zeus yelled.

" AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT DIDN'T BROKE THE OATH YOU TWO FORCED ME INTO?" Hades yelled.

" Calm down Lightning Brain, besides you also broke the oath. " Poseidon replied.

Zeus grunted.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**  
><strong>As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the <strong>  
><strong>museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd <strong>  
><strong>done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-" <strong>

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**  
><strong>That wasn't the right thing to say.<strong>  
><strong>"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.<strong>  
><strong>"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." <strong>

" Thanks for sticking up for me, Grover." Percy said.

" Anytime Perce. Anytime." Grover said with a smile on his face.

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to ****death.****She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.  
><strong>**"But-"  
><strong>**"You-will-stay-here."  
>Grover looked at me desperately.<br>****"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."  
><strong>**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."  
><strong>**Nancy Bobofit smirked. ****I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. **

The demigods shuddered except Percy and Nico.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She  
><strong>**was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come. ****How'd she get there so fast?****I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've ****missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place ****behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. ****I wasn't so sure.****I went after Mrs. Dodds. ****Half way up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and ****Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in ****his novel. **

" C'mon, Chiron get up." Poseidon whined. Poseidon was paling.

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the ****entrance hall.****Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.****But apparently that wasn't the plan.****I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and ****Roman section.****Except for us, the gallery was empty.****Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was ****making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.****Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. ****Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**  
><strong>I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am." <strong>

" Wow, Percy's doing the safe thing." Nico, Frank, Jason and Thalia and Annabeth said. Percy just pouted.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"****The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. ****She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. **

"Is that who I think it is?" Hades asked.

" Yes Dad, you're in big trouble." Nico said. Hades gulped.

**I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." ****Thunder shook the building.****"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you ****out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." ****I didn't know what she was talking about.****All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of ****my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever ****reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make ****me read the book. **

"Only you Perce, Only you." Nico chuckled while Annabeth and Athena glared at Percy. " Umm, hi?" Percy nervously asked.

****"Well?" she demanded.  
><strong>"Ma'am, I don't..."****"Your time is up," she hissed.  
><strong>**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, ****turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled ****hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. ****Then things got even stranger. ****Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the ****doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand****"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. ****Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.****With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the ****air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which ****he always used on tournament day. ****Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.****My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.****She snarled, "Die, honey!"****And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. **

"How is that natural?" Frank asked.  
>" Since it's Percy, it's natural." Thalia and Jason said simultaneously. Thalia and Jason smiled at each other.<p>

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. **  
><strong>Hisss!<strong>  
><strong>Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, <strong>  
><strong>leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two <strong>  
><strong>glowing red eyes were still watching me. <strong>

" HADES! YOU SENT A FURY TO MY SON! I WILL KILL YOU!" Poseidon yelled angrily.  
>Hades looked nonchalant as ever. Poseidon was going to strangle him when Percy soothed his dad. Poseidon calmed down.<p>

**I was alone. ****There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.****Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.****My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or ****some-thing.****Had I imagined the whole thing?****I went back outside.****It had started to rain.****Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still ****standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, ****she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." **

" Who?" Poseidon asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

"Like father, like son." Hestia quietly said. Everyone jumped out of there seats, they didn't know she was there.

**"Our teacher. Duh!"  
><strong>**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.****She just rolled her eyes and turned away. ****I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.****He said, "Who?"****But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.****"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."****Thunder boomed overhead.****I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, read-ing his book, as if he'd never moved.****I went over to him.****He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the ****future, Mr. Jackson."****I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. ****"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"****He stared at me blankly. "Who?"****"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." ****He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far ****as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?" **

" Well that's the end." Nico said. "Who wants to read?"

_Wait a sec, did you realize that Apollo and Hermes and the Stolls and Leo rarely talked. What do you think happened?  
><em>Artemis spoke in all of their minds. Now that they thought about it, they didn't even talk at all. Artemis was worried. They stopped talking during **Yeah, you could say that**. What happened?


	10. AN

**Hey Guys, **

**I might do a twist to this story. Tell me if you want to know or not.**


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